The Autonomous nonprofit organization (ANO) National Business Development Agency (nbda.ru) together with the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic (PODA) launched the ‘Women in Business. The Arctic’ community. Its concept was presented at a meeting of the PODA’s Expert Council on July 7, 2022.
The ‘Women in Business. The Arctic’ community is part of the ecosystem of national business development agents. It will contribute to building a constructive dialogue between the participants in the entrepreneurship development ecosystem, promoting support and implementation of the best sustainable development practices, and identifying the vulnerabilities, problem areas and barriers in the business development. In addition, the community is aimed at increasing the effectiveness of state policy in this area.
“I am convinced that the topic of women’s entrepreneurship in the Arctic deserves a special approach as for its development and promotion. Over 2 years of studies, we have identified a number of important needs the business women in the Arctic have. In particular, this is the need for co-operation among those who have already launched their businesses and those who are just looking for ways to realize themselves as entrepreneurs. This is the need for the support of like-minded people, for the synergy of state support measures implemented at the federal and regional levels. The ‘Women in Business. The Arctic’ community will provide answers to this. It is important that the results of the community’s work would depend on the activity of each of its participants,” says Yulia Alfyorova, Director General of the ANO National Business Development Agency, a member of the PODA’s Expert Council.
The expert notes a direct relationship between the outflow of the population from the Arctic regions and the ‘happiness index’. At the same time, she emphasizes that, actually, women guided by care for the family play a key role in making their decision to change their place of residence. Therefore, the expert believes, it is necessary to provide support for ‘mom-entrepreneurs’ in starting their own business.
“Entrepreneurship allows you to develop the area in a natural way, satisfying the needs that are here and now. Creating the community is a timely and important decision that will support women who are ready to do business in the Arctic, as well as help those who are just considering this option for themselves, enhance opportunities for the exchange of experience, attract experts from all over the country, and allow applying the best approaches in the development of entrepreneurship in the Russian Arctic,” says Olga Vilkovskaya, Director for Ecosystem Development and Strategic Partnerships, ANO National Business Development Agency.
Alexander Vorotnikov, coordinator of the PODA’s Expert Council, believes that the matter is not only in the development of gender equality. “If a woman living in the Arctic has no job, she will not feel like ‘being in demand’ and successful, and in the long run, she would begin to influence her husband and say that they need to leave the Arctic. And this bad practice will happen from time to time. If we do not give an opportunity to a woman to fulfil her potential, we will lose people who could work very successfully in the Arctic,” the expert is convinced.
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